I should’ve known that a drama with only 12 episodes would waste no time in bringing on the warm-fuzzies. I have to admit, I wasn’t really expecting to the squishy so soon but I’m not sorry it’s here, nor am I sorry there’s a healthy dose of heartache to balance out the cute. In a high school drama, you really do have to have both if you’re going to have a story worth telling and this is shaping up to be one such a story.
Picking up where we left off last week, Kim Yeol tries to convince Yeon Doo to join him in this cheerleading adventure, using whatever shameless means necessary. It’s funny that he never once stopped to think that if he just told Yeon Doo the truth, she’d be okay with going along with him. Of course that’s eventually what he ends up doing, telling her the truth while claiming it’s a lie and whaddaya know, she agrees to help him right away. Go figure!
While I think Yeon Doo is way too caring for her own good, her compassion for others really is one of her greatest strengths. She loves her friends enough to swallow her pride and do whatever it takes to bring back Real King. She’s willing to put aside her own prejudices and problems to help Kim Yeol save Ha Joon. She saves Soo A from big trouble by stopping Teacher Yang from finding the cigarettes hidden in Soo A’s purse. Time and time again, Yeon Doo goes against everything that seems natural by putting others before herself. It’s an admirable trait, to be sure, but it does make me wonder if she’s really even human. I mean how many people do you know that are willing to sacrifice their own happiness for the well-being of people they like, let alone their enemies? Of course Yeon Doo does have her moments of weakness, as do we all, and I find it funny that no matter how many times Kim Yeol or Soo A try to exploit those weaknesses, it never works. I guess this goes to show you can be compassionate without letting people walk all over you. Or at least Yeon Doo can. Because she’s awesome.
You know who else I think is awesome? This new cheerleading coach. Yup! She’s smart and sassy and she knows how to manipulate a bunch of snotty high school kids and their parents without even breaking a sweat. In short, she’s everything this school, that principal, those parents and those kids need and I love her. I just wish the male population of the school would stop oogling over her body while they hide from her face. Dude, if you’re gonna drool over the woman, you’ve got to accept her, face and all. (Buncha idiots!)
Though I find the men drooling annoying, those feelings pale in comparison to the way I feel about Soo A and the way her character is being portrayed. There seems to be an awful lot of time spent trying to make Soo A out to be the victim and as such, one to be pitied. While I have no problem agreeing that Soo A is under a tremendous amount of pressure to live up to her ridiculous mother’s ridiculous standards, I can’t justify that as an excuse for her lousy behavior. Nor can I accept her victimized, “woe is me,” “why is everyone out to get me” crap. She’s a smart kid. She knows exactly why everyone hates her and she knows she has the power to change her situation. However instead of taking the initiative to make that change, she decides to blame everyone else for her problems. “It’s Yeon Doo’s fault all this happened. She started it.” Blah Blah Blah NO! We all know (Soo A included) that everything that’s happening is because Soo A is choosing to play the part of the villain. What happens as a result can be blamed on no one but herself but because she’s a spoiled brat she refuses to shoulder that responsibility and instead, make things a thousand times worse by blaming others. To make matters worse, she then has to go around threatening to kill everyone who gets in her way and well, that’s just not going to win her any friends, now is it?
While I spent a lot of time rolling my eyes at Soo A, I also spent a fair amount squeeing over the developing relationship between Yeon Doo and Kim Yeol. The fact he openly admits to being interested in her and the fact she turns the color of a ripe tomato when he mentions there’s a girl he’d like to kiss makes it pretty obvious where things are headed and I’m perfectly okay with that. These two need each other, more than either one of them may ever realize. Kim Yeol needs Yeon Doo around to teach him how to lighten up, have fun and just be a kid. It broke my heart when Kim Yeol smiled and Ha Joon said it was the first time he’d ever seen his friend so happy. What kind of ridiculous world are these poor kids living in that they can’t even smile? It’s so sad! Of course Yeon Doo needs Kim Yeol around, not to help her be a kid, but to help her navigate the harsh world in which they live. I adore Yeon Doo but she is painfully naive and she needs Kim Yeol around to show her that which she cannot see. (Like he did with the principal and her plan to for the cheerleading club for the sole benefit of Soo A.) Yeon Doo and Kim Yeol balance out each other’s weaknesses and play off each other’s strengths which makes them a rather wonderful OTP to watch as their relationship develops.
Once again this week’s episodes were an emotional mixture of heartache and happiness and I’m loving every minute of it. (Well, close enough anyway.) Of course now that I’ve shared my thoughts on this week’s happenings, I want to know yours so be sure to let me know what you’re thinking by leaving me a comment (or two or three) below!
Catch up on all of my reviews of Cheer Up! here:
Kim Yeol and Yeon Doo are SO STINKING CUTE together!! (dancing for a stereo, falling asleep together on the bus, hiding out under the covers…I’m looking forward to more moments like those.) His smile is so charming and together they do seem to balance each other out. Each of them understands loyalty and how to be a good friend. That’s the piece that Soo A is sadly missing. Yes, she has a crazy overbearing mother and a friend who committed suicide, but when you look around that school, it seems like most of them have the same types of pressure, but don’t choose to handle it by evilly manipulating others. Her friend committed suicide, for goodness sake, and yet she’s willing to exploit one student’s recent self-harm incident and another’s disability without regard to their emotional effects.
Soo A is unbearable. She tells everyone “that’s what you get for messing with me” when no one is messing with her but actually doing everything she wants. And she even sits around crying at a party (and seriously, folks, what teenage kid can’t tell wine from grape juice???) because no one is nice to her. She’s pathetic and undeserving of sympathy.
When it comes to Soo A I have nothing nice to say. Like you said, she’s not dealing with anything more than everyone else at that school is dealing with and yet she wants to try to come off as the victim. No one at school is manipulating her, it’s the other way around. She’s nothing but a nasty, spoiled, selfish brat and she needs to get her act together before things get worse. But worse they will get, because this is a drama and that’s just the way things go. Of course if she doesn’t back off, and she decides to continue to exploit and manipulate other people with zero regard for what may become of them, she’s going to have to deal with some very serious consequences.